Incredible Miniature 1900’s Photography Studio

1 October 2017

Ali spent many long hours researching so that the details would be as accurate as possible. He went on to make over 100 era-accurate items from scratch, using hundreds of metres of wood as well as other materials like plastic, copper and paper.
“The hardest part”, Ali writes, “was how to recall the spirit of such place in a small scale.” We think he’s done an amazing job!

Tags

An Interview With Lynn Allingham

25 September 2017

We recently discovered the beautiful miniatures of Lynn Allingham. Lynn creates stunningly realistic looking miniatures from polymer clay. When we discovered that she is about to have her very first book published, we jumped at the chance to catch up with her for a chat. Read the full interview below.

Hi Lynn. Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed and for giving us your time. Would you mind please telling us a little bit about yourself and what it is that you do?

Firstly “Hello” my name is Lynn Allingham and I’m not quite sure what I am, I guess I’m a mixture of miniaturist, model maker and craft writer. I have made things ever since I can remember. I did my degree in ‘Illustration for children’s publishing’, of which I pursued for many years with little success, until I decided to go back to what made me happiest, making things with my hands. For the last 9 years I have been working with polymer clay developing my skills in miniature model making and craft writing.

How did you get started with miniatures?

My big sister Steff first got me interested in making miniatures, we used to play with polymer clay as children and she re-introduced me to it 9 years ago. She handed me a big bag full of packets of Fimo and said, “There you go, see what you can do with that” so I did and I have been hooked ever since.

I began by making simple miniatures that I turned into jewellery, and then sold in my own online Etsy shop by the name of Tuckshop, go check it out. My sister sadly passed away shortly after I began selling my jewellery, this gave me the determination to constantly improve my work to make her more proud.

I contacted Making Jewellery magazine and started working with them producing step-by-step projects for readers to learn and make. I later became a monthly project writer for Dolls House magazine of which I worked on for the past three years. Dolls House magazine has recently closed and I am now working with another fantastic magazine called, Dolls House and Miniature Scene, so keep your eyes peeled for some of my projects coming out soon.

The opportunities I had with Dolls House magazine meant that I was able to spend more time learning and developing my miniature making skills to achieve a more professional finish.

Without my sister Steff I wouldn’t be doing any of this, she was and continues to remain my biggest source of inspiration and drive. I wish she was here to see what incredible opportunities that big bag of clay she handed me 9 years ago has led on to!

We think that your miniature food creations are absolutely beautiful. What is it, do you think, that makes miniature food so appealing?

Aw thank you, that is very kind. The answer is I’m not entirely sure! I guess everyone has a deeply ingrained affinity with food, we literally can’t live without it and when you ask people, they always have a favorite, mine is Chocolate and Thai (not together though!). When you miniaturize something I think it just takes on that cute factor that people can identify with, plus it’s just fun.

What’s been your most challenging miniature to date?

I think my most challenging miniatures to date were all the GBBO Showstoppers I made. The last 2 series of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ I decided to set myself the challenge of making the winning showstopper from each episode, I named it ‘The Great British Miniature Make Off’. I watched the show every week and then would make the miniature showstopper over the course of 4 days and release it via social media. To my utter surprise every baker fully embraced what I was doing and they wanted to buy their miniatures from me at the end of the series as a memento of their time in the tent. It was a strange thing to have done but it led onto so many fun things and forced me to develop my miniature making as the weeks went by.

We’re very excited to see that you have a book coming out soon (congratulations!), how did this come about?

Thanks I’m stupidly excited for its release. Writing a book is something I have always wanted to do but thought it would never happen. After I had been writing for Dolls House magazine for 3 years I decided to ask them if it would be a fun idea to make a book of all the step-by-step projects I had produced for them. They got back to me and told me that their book publisher was looking to make a craft book on how to create miniature model food and so I was asked if I would like to create it with them. Of course I bit their hand off at the chance to have my own book and that’s how it all came about. My publishers have been an absolute joy to work with and I can’t wait to hold the book in my hands.

When is the book available?

Oh, thank you for asking, the official release date is November 7th but it is also available to pre-order right NOW!
It’s called ‘Making mini food’ By Lynn Allingham and its available to buy on Amazon, or ideally from my publisher here: www.gmcbooks.com

What’s next for you?

Ooooohhhhh maybe a second book, I have also worked a little in props for children’s TV, so maybe more of that, its all good fun, so watch this space!

Thank you very much for your time, Lynn, and best of luck with the book!

A massive thank you once again to Lynn for her time and for agreeing to talk to us. We think that you’ll agree that her miniatures are absolutely gorgeous.

You can see more of Lynn’s work on her wonderful Instagram page Tuck_Shop and on her website.

Tags

The World's Most Expensive Dolls' House

11 September 2017

Ever wanted to see the world's most expensive dolls' house? Now you can! We're pleased to bring you a collection of images of the incredible Astolat Dollhouse Castle, which has been valued at a staggering $8.5 million!

Built by the artist Elaine Diehl around 1980 and decorated with 10,000 items, the castle combines incredible craftsmanship with the finest materials.

The house features hand-stitched tapestries, vases in real lapis lazuli, thousands of miniature books which are actually readable under a magnifying glass, and replicas of 18th-century oil paintings. It doesn't get much more luxurious than this!

Tags

Your Pictures - Gallery

28 August 2017

Over the last few years you've sent us some wonderful pictures of your beautiful dolls' houses, and we thought that the blog would be a great place to start collecting some of these together!

In what will be a regular feature, we bring you the first instalment of Your Pictures.

If you'd like to share pictures of your house with us, we'd love to see! Head over to our Facebook page where you can share your pictures with us there. Alternatively, you can email some of your photos to us at support@dollshouse.com with the subject line "Blog Pictures" and we'll be sure to take a look
Credit: Gill Smith

Credit: Gill Smith

Credit: Jackie Seaton Blantford

Credit: Elizabeth TeSelle

Credit: Kim Hill

Credit: Nicola Butcher

Credit: Raewyn Lane

Credit: Ricardo Manuel Pousao Santos

Credit: Shirley Gates

Credit: Victoria Crumplin

Credit: Kim Hill

Credit: Kim Hill

Credit: Kim Hill

Credit: Nicky Michelle Minion

Credit: Rebecca Micallef

Credit: Rebecca Micallef

Credit: Rebecca Micallef

Thank you to everyone who has contributed pictures of their projects. We are always absolutely thrilled to see them.